Sex and the City is a generation-defining, cultural landmark for those women who first watched in the 1990s and beyond. With the boxsets available on HBO and NowTV, it has become apparent that, much like Friends, the show is relatable even to women who weren’t born when the programme first aired in 1998, becoming a firm favourite of many (myself included).

The power of iconic fashion, scandalous sex and strong female friendships are, seemingly, perennial. You’re randomly asked ‘Are you a Carrie?’ and you know exactly what they are referring to (of course not, I’m a Miranda, duh.) ‘Big or Aiden?’, a question that will spark enough debate to entertain an entire brunch (Aiden, obviously). But, as we enter the 17th year since 10.6 million people tuned in to watch the finale, another question occupies our minds: Do we really need a Sex and the City reboot?

Sarah Jessica-Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York-Goldenblatt) all confirmed the news of the reboot on their social media on the 10th January. But, the absence of the iconic Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, was stark. The ongoing feud between SJP and Cattrall is no secret, of course. Their longstanding controversy has dominated tabloids since 2004 when Cattrall exposed the tensions in an interview with Jonathan Ross, following the premiere of the finale.

However, since the plans for a third movie crumbled in 2017 and Cattrall slammed Parker’s public condolences for the death of her brother in 2018, the flames of the feud seem to burn brighter than ever. Considering this, I suppose the omission of Sam from the reboot shouldn’t be too much of a shock to fans. But, should a reboot without Samantha even go ahead?

Samantha Jones is the physical embodiment of having your cake and eating it too.

For a lot of fans, Samantha epitomises exactly what they love about Sex and the City. She “proved that women could do everything men could,” in both her sex life and her career. And in later seasons, she did it all whilst presenting a very sensitive battle with breast cancer. For many, Samantha is the life of the show; she’s the fun and the scandalous combined. And, surely, she represents exactly what the show is about: “having sex without feeling bad about it”. Samantha Jones is the physical embodiment of having your cake and eating it too. What will the series offer without her, realistically?

Aside from the contentious omission of Cattrall from the reboot’s line up, is a limited series about three hyper-privileged, cisgender, heterosexual, wealthy white women really worth watching? Teasers from the hotly anticipated reboot of another New York City favourite, Gossip Girl, present the fresh-faced, diverse cast who are the stars. Isn’t a Sex and the City reboot without the same adjustments simply going to feel stale in comparison?

“a lot of the jokes in Sex and the City, along with many of our favourite shows gone-by, are horribly dated and outright offensive by today’s standards”

This is particularly pertinent considering the fact that, on reflection, a lot of the jokes in Sex and the City – along with many of our favourite shows gone-by –  are horribly dated and outright offensive by today’s standards. Chelsea Fairless, co-founder of the ‘Every Outfit on Sex and the City’ Instagram told The Guardian, “that show is as white as it gets,” highlighting how there was not one series regular who was a person of colour on the show.

Overt stereotypes and inequalities

Sex and the City fails to properly represent other marginalised groups, too. The LGBTQ+ representation in the show is boiled down to two stereotypes (one a fashionable camp man and the other “the bitchy gossip”) in Stamford and Anthony. Carrie once even came out with this biphobia disguised as wisdom in Season 3, Episode 4: “I’m not even sure if bisexuality exists”. Not to mention to overt antisemitism towards Harry, the rampant classism, and flippant use of transphobic slurs.

A show depicting the lives of a wealthy, white elite will surely only serve to sour the already existing tensions bubbling in the U.S.: where unemployment is at its all-time post-war high and the barbaric acts of police brutality have exposed the deeply entrenched racial inequalities.

Taking all of the above into account, is a Sex and the City reboot even worth the effort? Following the finale in 2004, the show franchised into two very successful films in 2008 and 2010 which were, for many fans, a satisfying insight to the continued lives of these much-loved characters. Surely it is time to leave these cult-favourite shows behind in favour of the creation of new stories with more diverse and complex characters in order to properly reflect the reality of New York City, and the rest of the world, in 2021.

Nia Thomas

Featured image courtesy of George Bakos via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to the image.

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